Intertwined
by artemis15sc
Summary: Post-Avengers with five original characters, the Avengers and some ties to mortal instruments. Some romance beteen Loki and one of the OC's eventually. Possibly some ties to Doctor Who as well. Thanos is trying to unite the infinity gems and defeat an old enemy.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This book switches from multiple perspectives. **

**Also, there will be at least 3 crossovers(Mortal Instruments, Doctor Who, other Marvel) And for that reason, it won't be listed as a crossover but as Avengers fanfiction because that's the main story.**

**Darius is a servant of Thanos that I made up. **

**This story will be loosley based on things from the marvel comics, but I took some liberties as well.**

**Also*-one of the OC's can travel throughout time and space at will, so I've used that to crossover almost any story I've ever liked with these characters. For that reason, they have a lot of history, so if something is confusing or doesn't make sense please let me know and I will try to clarify it.**

* * *

Darius was late. The overlord did not look kindly on lateness, but the news he carried was worth more riches than the whole outer edge of the galaxy possessed and he hoped that would be enough to appease his wrath.

A clattering sound echoed above him. He looked up, and then dove sideways with a yelp. A bounder the size of his head crashed down where he'd been moments earlier. He stared at the rock, breathing heavily, before searching for the place from which it had come. A tall, narrow black spire loomed over him. It looked like it had once been made of the gleaming black rock the mortals called Obsidian, but dust and decay had withered it down to nothing more than a charred, crumbling gray heap. A similar setting lay around him, stretching as far as the eye could see. Wilting spires reaching desperately for the sky, or else broken and twisted into crooked, unnatural shapes that seemed too sneered ominously amid their defeat. And all around lay the disintegrating, charred rock like ash after a fire. It was as if the entire planet had once been a massive, magnificent, steepled church; but it's glory had been sapped like the rain of the desert, it's cruel beauty contorted and perverted into a deformed, rasping skeleton clinging to its former embodiment. The dark life, dark energy that had once thrived here was now nothing more than a memory lingering in the shadows. But then there were the mountains. Large, ominous, powerful despite the beauty they had been stripped. This world's one last act of defiance, standing tall despite the destruction.

It was common knowledge that no life remained, that none had since the dark days. But Darius felt as though an entire nation were watching him, perhaps the tortured souls of those who had departed. He shook his head. No, this was no time for madness. He was here to claim his reward and get out, unless the overlord had another task for him. He had reached the base of the largest steeple, a mountain once known as _Ongire_, or death. It was not surprising that his master would reside here, all things considered. He gazed up, and spotted a cave about a hundred yards ahead of him. Praying that that was his destination, for he wished not to remain on this rock a moment longer than he had too, he started climbing up. The pebbles slid precariously under his feet and the wind picked up, its low rumble becoming like distant thunder, threatening of a greater storm to come. He reached the caves entrance. He stepped inside, squinting through the darkness that lay before him.

"Darius."

He gulped. "Master."

"The Day is almost done; the sun has reached the far western sky. I'd expected you before it reached high noon."

Darius wasn't sure how he knew that, since he could see no visible sun despite the lingering daylight. "M-My lord I promise you must hear what news I bring you."

"Very well, speak."

"Your promise?" He said, his voice higher than usual.

"When you deliver as you have promised, I will determine the value of your information. Now speak, or I will rip the words from your mouth and take your tongue with them."

"M—my lord it is as you expected. She has taken the power of the gems and spread them out throughout the eternal stones, fourteen of them, though fifteen if you included the Gauntlet."

"Fifteen." The titan rumbled, "always fifteen."

" We are unsure exactly how she spread them, but we believe there to be three for the power gem, three for the space gem, two for the time gem, two for the mind gem, one for the reality gem, and one for the soul gem."

"And must they be—reunited—in order to have their full capabilities?"

"Yes, but any sorcerer could perform the spell to do so."

"And you have discovered their location?"

"We—we're still searching, but we know that each of the six original protectors retained one, and seven remain within the nine realms, but as for the others, we know the location of only two."

"And I suppose one is Hosni's?"

"Yes." For the first time this evening, Darius allowed himself a small smile. "And she remains unaware of his betrayal."

The titan chuckled. "She has always been blind to those whom she professes to trust."

"He has promised that he will turn over his stone as soon as the others are collected."

"Why not hand it over to us now?"

"He believes that it would alert her to his—change of colors—as he said."

The Titan let his gaze drift down to his hand, "perhaps Hosni is not as much of a fool as I once believed."

"Hosni also retains a close alliance with Kufara, who has revealed that he also received one. Hosni believes he can get Kufara to reveal its location, and then it's only a matter of time before he will be able to obtain it."

"And the other gems?"

Darius faltered. "I…I—"

"How will you obtain them?"

Darius inclined his head, bowing slightly, while his legs trembled. "We are searching diligently, my Lord."

Thanos snorted, his red eyes blazing as he turned away from his servant.

"My lord, we know of—one other."

Thanos turned, his gaze settling back on Darius. Darius tried to stop the tremors that were threatening to spread to the rest of his body, and his jaw twitched. It seemed he had reached the part he was most reluctant to divulge, but there was nothing else to be under the Titan's decimating stare.

"The soul gem, it remains with…her."

For a moment, Thanos was silent. Then he laughed, a low, thundering laugh that filled the entire cave with their booming tone.

"By the end, even the guardian will find her strength is nowhere powerful enough to stop me."

"And of…" Darius began, but the word caught his throat…"What of the prophecy?"

Thanos's laughter died and his gaze returned to Darius, His red eyes darkened until they resembled blood. His chest expanded, and every inch of skin seem to tighten as if pulled by an invisible chord. "The prophecy means nothing. It is empty words, spoken by a few desperate for even a flickering candle in the impenetrable darkness."

"But...but my lord…"

"Don't tell me you fear the Rabbi-lira?" Thanos chuckled again as he gazed down at the cowering Darius.

"I, I didn't…but her name has spread through the universe like fire, as well as the feats she has accomplished…"

"Those stories are exaggerations of the same who uphold that pathetic prophecy, and whatever she had done she remains a mortal, and a human female at that." he spat. "We have nothing to fear of the little wanderer, Darius, but I will see that her bones become the décor of my throne if it will finally quench these revolting rumors."

"I—you are right my lord." Darius said, bowing again.

Thanos snorted again, turning away. "Very well Darius you have done…sufficient."

"My reward?" Darius's voice perked.

"Not yet, I have another task for you." Darius's shoulders slumped. "Yes, my lord?"

"The Asgardian prisoner." He said, "I have unfinished business with him, bring me Loki, and if you are late again I will cut out your entrails and feed them to my warriors."

Darius couldn't hold back the trembling now, but he managed to give his master another bow before turning around to begin his trek down the mountain.


	2. Chapter 2

**So, I know I said it was post-Avengers, but the five OCs' story actually starts before Avengers and briefly goes through it, though most of the story will still focus on after. **

**Also, this is in first person, because it's impossible to write her, Sara, in anything else. There will be mention of another character, named Sarah, as well. Sara and Sarah, there's a reason they have the same name but if it becomes too confusing let me know and I'll changed one to Clara or something.**

**Also, this is basically a chapter to introduce these two characters, though stuff important to the plot does happen at the end. So, yeah, enjoy!**

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"ABBY, ABBY, ABBY, ABBY, ABBY! I sang as I raced down the hallway. I was used to running fast, and I was used to running in socks, and used to running down the slick floors that made up the hallways of the place I guess I could consider home, even though that word felt totally weird when being applied to it. What I wasn't used too, however, if I backtrack to my original thought, was all three at once.

So I slipped, right past a doorway in which a tall figure in a white tank and black pants with wine-red hair had just stepped upon, crashing instead into the tall door that divided our living quarters from the rest of the joint.  
"Yes, Sara?" Abby said in a bored tone as I stood up carefully — no longer trusting my feet—and brushed myself off.

"I had something to tell you," I said, hunching over with my arm clasped tightly over my stomach, sucking air in and out as loudly as I could while still sounding somewhat realistic. I wasn't sure why I bothered with that realistic part considering I was also trying to make it obvious that I was just exaggerating for the fun of it. Thinking…nope, no idea. That doesn't make sense at all.

"Obviously." Abby said. I wasn't looking up, but I swear I could hear her eyes rolling as she leaned against the doorway, staring down at me like I was bug that both irritated her and mildly interested her, and she was just waiting for me to lose my interesting bits so she could stomp on me. That was about how things went with Abby.

"I don't 'member what it is." I said as I puckered my lips, having finally managed to straighten myself. She gave me a look, the Abby look of death, as I'd once called it. The one that said 'you'd better figure it out whatever it was that could have possibly made you think you had any right to disturb me real fast sweetheart or you'll never get too." Except that sweetheart wasn't in Abby's vocabulary, and she'd probably kill me for imagining her using it.

I used to gulp every time I saw that face—if I backtrack to my face thought— but in my defsense it wasn't a very pleasant face. Now though I just gave her an indigant look, my indignant look— a posture so straight it's not and looks completely awkward, face twisting into a grimace that attempts to still be cute, and apparently succeeds, with my arms splayed out in a line beginning at the elbows. Sometimes they're on my hips, but I was still struggling to find my balance and for whatever reason hips seemed scarier in that regard than splayed. Yeah, I don't get it either.

"I crashed, my brain has to reboot." Another look, more pointed, "Or whatever a brain has to do after it crashes into a wall, thing..." I trailed on. She rolled her eyes again, and I grinned.

"Sara," she said again, her voice had that long, controlled drawl that told me she was seriously thinking about about putting me into a headlock, or possibly a crucifix. The grin slipped off my face, replaced by something far more—apologetic, or really just pleading.

"Yes?" I said, cute face time, not that cute ever worked with Abby, but it was about all I knew how to do.

"What is it?" She looked at her fingernails as she said this, the most casual of gestures, but casual for Abby for actually secret code for I am about to kill you.

"Sarah." I said, trying to remember what came next. "She had on her Sarah look and she gave me the Sarah voice earlier."

"Which means..."

"Which means we might actually get to do something today!" My voice jumped up a few octaves. the corners of my lips trying to reach my ears, and about succeeding as I jumped up and down a bit and clapped my hands together.

"That, would be extraordinary." Her slightly wistful tone had nothing on my excitement, but since it was coming from Abby mine paled in comparison to it.

"But I wouldn't get your hopes up," she said as she stepped back into her room, "I'm starting to think we've hit the end of our usefulness and she's just going to leave us here to rot." I rolled my eyes as I slipped passed her. Rolling eyes was something Abby and I both did a lot, but the gestures looked nothing alike. What was it Chris had said the difference was? Oh yeah, my eyes "smiled." What does that even mean, smiled?

I collapsed on Abby's bed, yawning with my arms extended over my head. I knew she hated it when I did that, but Abby hated almost everything I did, and she'd given up trying to stop them long ago.

"Sara?" she asked.

"Hmm?" I answered, stretching.

"Did you just get up?"

"Umm..." I pressed my lips together, refusing to look away from the ceiling, "maybe?"

She sighed, the Abby—why the hell do I even bother anymore—sigh. It was kind of odd that she would ask me that considering I was the one who'd shown up in her room, but odd was the norm with Abby and I. I had just gotten up, and she'd probably been awake for hours—training, studying, messing with the androids—and had only just now come back to her room. I still wasn't used to the androids, metal people who did our work for us. Even though they had hearts of steel they still acted too much like humans for comfort.

I felt pressure at the back of my head, and for a moment I thought Abby had decided to make good on that unspoken headlock threat, but then her voice came, soft, and as close as Abby got to gentle. "sit-up." so I did, letting my feet hit the floor so I was sitting on the edge while she scooted up behind me. She placed a firm hand on the back on my shoulder, and then her other hand moved up before pulling down. She was brushing my hair. It was kind of odd, these moments between Abby and me, they came so unpredictably, though I supposed this time there was a reason. They'd just recently rescued me from a situation. A situation that had involved a prison camp with some not so nice treatment or great nutrition. It been almost a month since they'd rescued me, but they still treated me like I might collapse at any second and they needed to be there to catch me. I looked up then, straight into the mirror.

it was odd, me trying to sit still while Abby hovered over my shoulder. Her hand occasionally brushing against my neck as the brush made its way through the curly mess that was my outrageously thick, waist-length black hair. It kind of clashed with her hair, red hair that was so dark she was only the only redhead I knew that actually deserved that color, rather than the orange that usually passed for red. It was almost as long as mine, I realized. Abby's hair had always been long, until I'd convinced her to donate it to locks of love all those years ago. It was almost as long as it had been before then, funny how it had taken me until now to notice.

I fidgeted. It wasn't uncommon for Abby to take it upon herself to brush my hair, though I wasn't even allowed to touch hers. Which was kind of backwards, considering she was pretty much a living stone statue and I well, couldn't sit still. ever. I'd been diagnosed ADHD back when I was home, on earth. Before Sarah suspended my ability to age and made her littlest sidekick among three other sidekicks.

"Abby?" I said, trying to give my brain something to focus on, plus silences had never really been my thing.

"mmm..." she answered, like she was barely listening, but I knew that she was taking in everything I was saying as well as everything I wasn't as well as the position of every random thing in the room, as well a bunch of other random things I couldn't even comprehend at the moment. It was one of the—ahh—side effects of being a spy since before you could walk.

"Should I dye my hair again?"

She paused. "You could, but you know you'll just dye it back."

I pinched my face together, She was right, of course, and I didn't like it when they were right about me.

I stared at the mirror again. I would have cocked my head slightly, but Abby would have snapped it back into place before I actually started moving.

Black was not my natural hair color. It was actually a light brown, and poofy and wild like Hermione's from Harry Potter. Every now and then I'd revert back to it, for nostalgia's sake, but it usually only lasted for a day or two tops, before I'd switch back to something else. Usually, as you may have guessed, black.

I wasn't sure why I liked black. Sure, it went with the goth theme since my skin was so pale and all, but I was still pretty sure I didn't count as goth, as least, not all the time. I'd kinf od passed my goth phase and only reverted back to it every now and then for fun.

It didn't go with—me—either. Even with Sarah's—enhancements— I was still soft. Small head, petite nose, face covered in puppy-fat and indistinct green eyes. the black made this all look—harsher—and perhaps that was why I liked it. It made me look older, and my eyes look darker, and if I looked at them long enough I could almost convince myself I no longer looked like a fifteen year old, I could forget for a moment that no matter how much time passed, I would always be the same. A child, never more.

Abby's hand tightened on my shoulder. I smiled, letting the thoughts slip away. She could always sense when I was starting to disappear down that misty path called thoughts that you really shouldn't think about because all they do is make you bemoan things that you can't control. Basically, she could read me, and while there may have been a time when that bothered me. Now, it was...needed. I smiled again and sighed, the kind of sigh that pushed all your stress outward instead of pulling it inward and allows you to breathe deep and free afterward. A good sigh.

"So, hypothetical situation says I'm wrong and we're still stuck here, but now I've gotten both our hopes up and we're totally crushed but we've geared ourselves up too much and so we obviously have to do something..."

"What did you have in mind?" I couldn't tell whether she was actually on board, not that I expected too. Abby never revealed anything until she knew the whole picture, that way she was still absolutely free to make her own plan thats endgame was probably to screw up whatever plan you'd just tried to pitch too her. It was pretty good strategy, as far as I had experienced.

"I don't know, I was just thinking of busting some drug dealers because that, you know, is always a small local problem that never amounts to anything bigger."

"Mhmm." she said, "Because that always works out well."

"Yeah, we never just happen to pick the one dealer who's cartel actually cares and it never ends up spiraling into a full on drug war that puts us that top of five different hit lists and ends with us running across the US for three months and finally ending up in the middle of nowhere in New Mexico where we get into a showdown that we all impossibly walk away from unscathed."

"That never happens."

"Never." I said, and she, what? Chuckled? I made Abby chuckle? That was actually something I took great pride in. She may be able to read me like a— whatever lame rip-off I normally would have inserted here in an attempt to not use the word book— but I, I, I was the only person I knew who could make her, the great, secretly robot abby, laugh.

"We'll see." She said, which was as good as I was going to get at the moment. She pulled the brush way, finished. Her hand brushed over my hair one more time, sweeping it over my shoulder, before her presence was gone with a swish.  
I stood up, glancing at her over my shoulder.

"You're not intending to just hide in your liar for the rest of day, right?"

"Why?" she answered, which meant yes, yes she was.

I made a sound at the back of my throat, running my hand through my hair before practically lunging toward her.

"Let's go find Chris and Zack and do something that will probably piss Sarah off and make her not want to take any of us in the first place." That wasn't how I'd intended to end that sentence, considering it was kind of counter-productive, but like everything else it just kind of popped out right as I was thinking it without going through any sort of logical filter first. There was reason why I wasn't the most persuasive person in existence.

I reached for her hand, my fingertips touching hers, before I pulled back.

"Sara?" Abby said.

I'd felt it, another one, again. But this time it was, different; stronger, darker, faster, so much faster. I bit my lip. I'd never felt anything quite like that, and that made me nervous. Something was coming. Something we weren't ready for. Darkness, fire, destruction,—we weren't ready.

I shook my head. No, these didn't always mean what I thought they did. They didn't always mean anything, and as for this one being—more—it was just my outrageously bored brain trying to make things interesting. I'd been cooped up for too long, and I was desperate. Yes that was it, it had to be...

"Sara?" Abby said again, her voice dropping to a worried pitch I'd scarcely heard before, at least when she actually meant it.

"Sorry," I tried to smile, but of course she saw right through that, time for a more direct avoidance approach.

"Come on," I grabbed her hand.

She resisted, "what the hell are we going to do with them anyway?" If I didn't know better I would have said it sounded like a grumble but luckily, I did, know better, that is.

I looked over my shoulder again,taking in abby's paler than mine skin, her gray eyes, her curves that formed into a beauty that resembled a scorching sun, breathtaking and perilous.

I grinned, a grin that belonged on the face of a five year old boy who had just taken the last cookie out of the cookie jar and successfully blamed it on the dog.  
"No Idea,"  
And we were off.


	3. Chapter 3

**So this chapter is from Sarah, the other Sarah',s perspective and it's back in third person. I intentionally left this very vague, but you might be able to find some references to things, and people, and stuff. Also remember that this is still pre-avengers**

* * *

It had been a long time since they had spoken to her, and then it hadn't exactly been what you could call a conversation. At least when they did she could give them a sentiment our two in return, not that it helped her cause any, but it certainly eased her mind about the whole affair. And helped her get over the fact that she living by the whims of a few cracked up old forces that hadn't had the sense to end their little games with the coming of a new age. And it was a lot harder to convince herself to listen when all she had to go on was a vague little murmur and a few scanty images.

She knew her team thought she'd lost it, and there were days when she was inclined to agree with them. Three weeks they'd been stuck here, coasting through nowhere, after years of running faster than they could fly. Recuperation, she had told them. A break, a chance to actually enjoy that rare calm before the storm. That's what they thought, that's what she told them. But she knew, they were not taking a "long overdue vacation time" as Sara had put it, they were waiting. But for what?

That question remained unanswered, despite her attempts to uncover it. For weeks she had got nothing but these little tidbits. It was excruciating.  
Her bedroom door shut noiselessly behind as she made her way down the sleek, darkened hallway. Her boots echoed with equal soundlessness on the seemingly bottomless floor.  
The fallen shall rise - that phrase could be applied to almost anything.  
the lost one shall meet the end, and the end shall meet the middle- everything was lost, so that didn't help anything.  
the dark shall gather at the falling storm - Really? she never would have guessed.  
the scattered will be called...  
And should they not answer...yes, yes, yes, she'd been over this a dozen times  
She pushed open the door that signaled the end of her walk, entering an even darker domed room.

She snapped her fingers, and instantly the room was lit, though no source was visible. She crossed the room, and stopped, turning.

There was a small ledge in the room, not quite large enough for a person to hide behind while lying down, unless said person was particularly short...

And that's when her gaze rested on the object that had originally drawn her attention. One, small, back curl. The corners of her mouth twitched upward slightly, while at the same time she sucked in an impatient breath and stalked over.

There she was, her head resting on her arm like a pillow while the other hung loosely over a book she'd probably only intended to close her for a moment and shut her eyes when she fallen into sleep. Sarah's expression softened. It always surprised her how Sara could fall asleep anywhere, at anytime. She looked younger when she slept, like an actual fifteen year old instead of the confusing timeless girl that was usually in her place. Her whole body was curled in on itself and her breath came out in soft, steady murmurs. She was smiling, softly, so it must have been a good part she'd stopped on, wherever it was.

Sarah extended one lithe limb towards the sleeping figure, flicking a stray lock out of the girl's eyes.

"Sara," she whispered, and then sharper, "Sara!" She strirred, mumbling something indistinct. Sarah tightened her jaw, another impatient gesture. "Rabbit!"

"What?" Sara shot up, gazing blearily at her surroundings, finally finding the person who'd awoken her.

"Sarah," she said quickly, trying to sit up, but failing and grabbing the ledge for support.

"Sleep well?" Sarah said with a small cock of her heard, sarcasm dancing lightly across her words.

The other Sara had managed to stop blinking and squinting, she grabbed her book and stood up, slowly this time. Sarah rose with her.

"Umm..." she was trying to decide whether or not she was in trouble, and Sarah let her squirm. "Well, actually..."

"Isn't there somewhere you're supposed to be?" Sarah interrupted.

Sara gave her as defiant a expression as a girl who hadn't even been awake for a minute could give her, which was surprisingly good, except that she couldn't pull off defiant even when she was awake.

"I don't know Sarah," she said, matching her tone and head position, "Is there?"

"Yes." The finality in her tone was enough to shut the other girl up—not a common occurrence—but something in Sarah's voice had peaked her interest. Sara squinted, pressing her lips inward, trying to decipher whatever it was she'd thought she'd seen. Sarah tried to meet her gaze levelly, but she wasn't really in the mood to waste more time and her eyes drifted away. She didn't see how Sara could have got something from that, but apparently she did, or she was pretending too. Her lips spread into what was supposed to be a knowing smile—though that look never quite worked on Sara's face—before shrugging and slipping past Sarah and out of the room.

Sarah looked after her for a moment, before sighing and turning back toward the other end of the room. She held up her hand, and after a moment, the air around the wall began to shimmer, until a gap appeared in the curved surface. She slipped through it, and the passage faded quickly behind her. Inside was a room that looked like it belong on the set of Star Trek. It was entirely black and covered with stars, a replica of the night sky. It gave the impression that one had stepped outside into the abyss of the universe, except that these stars were not from this universe, nor any universe that currently existed. They were older, much older, than that. Like everything else in this room, they belonged to the one before.

"Well," she said to the darkness, "I came." Nothing happened, not that she expected it too. These forces could not be rushed, not that they had any problem forcing her to do so.

And then, suddenly, they were there. All around her, inside her, filling her with ideas impossible to describe with any spoken or unspoken words, either because the ones needed had long since faded away, or because they had never been there to begin with. She was inclined to think it was the latter, if not because it made a more impressive sentiment.

She sucked in a breath, her body arching as though experiencing a long forgotten pleasure. And she was, in a way. It was now, in these moments, that she felt the closest to what had been. Her lost heritage, the fate she more than rightly deserved and then one that could never be hers. It was ecstasy, but it was also agony. She breathed out, and the force retreated from her, somewhat. She closed her eyes. They had done their part and it was her turn. Slowly she sifted through the images, and the ones without images. The closest word she could find to describe these phenomena was, feeling, but such a simple, human word could never capture their true, intricate nature. A complex creation that was unreachable and tangible, comprehensive and unexplainable, beautiful and terrible.

She opened her eyes. They had given her—nothing—nothing new. A snarl escaped her lips.  
"Is this your idea of a joke?" she called out, no longer caring that such words were pointless. They converged around her, like a swarm, engulfing her. If she was a true member of her race she would have been able to understand their message in its original form, but either she was not like them in that regard or years spent among other races had given her a habit of placing labels to things even if it was impossible. Like now. As far as she could tell, they had told her that they'd already told her everything she needed to know, not something that was going to improve her mood.

She clicked her tongue, and sparks flew, literally. She did not bother to find words to express herself now, her feelings and thoughts would do that part well enough. She could feel them again, hear them, like murmurs in her ears. her mind spun, finally resting on an image, if she dared called it that. An entire universe could not be compressed into a single picture, yet she could see the entirety of it in a heartbeat.

She blinked, her eyes widening. She recognized it, as she had been there before. But that had been ages, ages, surely he could not...But no he was there, she could feel him. He was weaker, perhaps, than the last time she'd seen him, but that had been so very long ago. And as for the other...

She stopped, closing her eyes and pulling back on a moment she had cast off as irrelevant. It came before her, the history after she had left. She saw it the invasion, the cold ones invading. Earth. Her precious Earth. The war, such a great war. the defeat. The changing of guards. A relic, ancient and powerful, so powerful. She paused, the following years passing over her like honey, until...

Her eyes snapped open. She had heard of the stirrings, but they had been one among so many, like two flies among a swarm of thousands. It seems she had been wrong to ignore them, however. Her eyes flashed over the faces, the words, the deeds. The lies, the betrayals, the anger and bitterness. The shadow, the fallen...

The lost, the gathering darkness, the end, could this really be there meaning? She extended her hand again, searching for the man that now clouded her thoughts. And she found him, standing amongst enemies she had once sworn were defeated. And he, he was farther than any of his kind had durst been before. The fallen, yes, he had fallen far indeed.

She swept through again, looking for another lost force, and she'd found it. Her hand clenched tightly, and she stumbled, almost. It was...yes...but how? She could see it now, the power of the gods, falling into the hands of mortals. Burning, fire, flame,a shadow covering the earth. But that battle was over, that threat diminished. It had been stopped, by another lost one, once frozen in the earth's vast shell...

For now it seemed it was, stable, but how long that could last...

Another image. No, It couldn't. But the exchange had been made, they were out of time. If it fell into their possession...

She stopped, a smile spreading across her lips; a terrible, humourless, tortured smile. At least now she knew why they had come. She knew enough, now, it was time to leave. She turned toward the door and stopped, no, she was missing something.

She turned back. The exchange, she knew one side, but no the other. And then she saw it, all of it. He would come, and he would bring with him...

The screams drowned out the rest of her thoughts. Her limbs felt heavier, but there was more, one more thing.

Her entire body froze, but whereas that implied all life evaporating from her limbs, this was quite the opposite. It was as if every tendon, every vein, every fiber in her body had been filled with unendurable force, uncontrollable fire, that must, must explode—but it was locked in place, unable to escape, but it could not remain...

She sank to her knees, her body screaming that no, this could not happen.

There would be war,and the Earth would burn, and death, so much death...

And she could do nothing.

She could see those who had been chosen.  
the scattered must gather.  
But if they do not answer...  
Then all will be lost. Well, at least as far as humanity was concerned.

Her breath came out in heavy gasps, rage pouring through her limbs, like quicksilver it burns. It could not, she could not, she didn't even know if they would succeed. All it once her frustration turned to rage, but as quickly as that had come it had burned out, replaced with annoyance. If there was nothing she could do then why this stupid prophecy? Why all this effort to inform her of an event of which she could take no part? It wasn't her concern, not if she couldn't do anything. Hundreds of worlds were invaded and conquered and destroyed without her blinking an eye, worlds that included the earth. This had no connection to them, and they had wasted her time.

But wait, there was something that could connect them. Another image flashed before her, another face, they only face that could take all the fire and snuff it out, leaving only an unendurable cold in its wake, a chill that passed through her bones, her sinew, her heart. The only thing that could kill her sudden bout of apathy, leaving only a desperate, desperate plea.

If she was connected, and this was as drastic as she feared...No, she could think of it. The last Eternal, the Guardian of reality in all her forms and she couldn't bear this. It would kill her, it would surely kill both of them. She would not be able to continue with her work any longer, not if she let this come to pass...

And they could not interfere.

She wanted to cave in, but she forced herself to stand to leave. The door closed behind her, and she wished she could leave everything behind with her.

War was coming, and there was nothing, nothing she could do.  
She closed her eyes, neck arching upward, offering a silent plea to any, any force that would hear her.  
Please.  
Spare her.

* * *

**So, yes, Sarah is an extremely old and powerful being, if you didn't catch that. And if you remember Thanos referencing a guardian...**

**Anyway, next chapter will be a Loki POV. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**My Loki POV at his trial in Asgard. It's not my best work with him, and it's not really important to the plot, but it was just too yummy to resist.**

* * *

"Bring the accused forward."  
The accused? It hadn't taken him long to forsake his fatherly title, now had it? Two guards grabbed his arms and began pulling him forward, but he pulled free. He would not be dragged toward his doom, he would walk forward and embrace it. The ancient stone courtroom of Asgard was vast, it's ceiling disappearing into the heavens. The court was in raised platforms on either side of him, their red and golden robes gleaming in the sunlit as they stood, their eyes trained on him.

He could feel the stares of the courtroom. The judges, the warriors, the spectators that had crammed inside. A surprising amount of people had shown up for his trial, whether to see the traitorous Prince they had presumed dead, or, as he suspected, to see the frost giant, the son of Laufey that had hidden among them all these years. The room was silent, a deafening silence that threatened to drown him. He passed the rows of people leading up to the stand, where Sif and the warriors three stood. And After them stood Thor, and Frigga. He could see Thor stiffen as he passed, and her heard Frigga's sharp intake of breath, but he didn't turn. His eyes remained fixed on the all-father in front of him. Never blinking, his mouth devoid of any lingering grin, his eyes devoid of any pleading notion he might have thought to use. He would not be a slave to their lies any longer.

He reached the stand, behind which stood Odin, oversee-er of his trial. A chain shot up from the ground beneath him and attached the the chains that bound his hands, securing him there.

"Loki...Odinson." Loki did not miss the hesitation in his father's words. Though he could not bare the name Laufeyson, for it was no more his heritage than Asgard was, niether would he bare the name Odinson. To hear it, too remember that he was still a slave's to his father's will however hard he might try to break free, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"You stand before this court, accused of the following crimes. Conspiracy against Asgard, consorting with her enemies, and bestowing destruction upon both Jotunhiem and Midgard— which you swore to protect—and breaking the oath you made when you were named as one of Asgard's protectors." Odin stood up, now towering even more over Loki. "In addition, you are charged with two attempts of murdering your brother, Thor, the future king of Asgard."

Loki's jaw twitched, and he found himself looking away from Odin for a brief moment. He could feel Thor's eyes on him, but he did not turn. Instead he slowly returned his gaze to Odin. Odin was staring at him intently, searching for something. A sign of guilt, and apparently he took Loki's brief moment of weakness as that sign.

"Loki, this is your last chance to speak on your own behalf, your last chance to influence your sentence." His voice was softer, almost as if he were begging Loki to take this chance.

the hard line of Loki's mouth turned toward a sneer. What did the all-father expect him to do? Grovel? Beg for mercy? Promise that he would atone for his decisions and plead that the court to show him forgiveness? Loki would take no such action. He would die before he gave them that satisfaction. He had made his choice, he had severed ties with them and to make any excuse would invalidate that action.

But a dozen bitter, biting remarks jumped the the egde of Loki's tongue. But he hesitated. He knew what to say to strike a dagger into their hearts, but he was known for his cunning, twisted way with words, and there were many present who probably expected it. The only way to truly spite them, to spite his family, was to be silent. It would be his last and final victory over those who had betrayed them.

The moment ticked onward, and Loki's gaze didn't waver from Odin's. Eventually Odin sighed, giving in. He sat back down, rubbing his hand against his forehead. When he finally removed it, loki could see though almost unnoticeable quivering in his fingertips.

"The court has already made it's decision, but as Asgard's ruler, I have chosen to override it." he stood again, his voice now echoing like thunder. "For his crimes, Loki will be sentenced to prison for an undetermined term, until this court sees it fit to review that decision." That pronouncement seemed to sap the last of his strength. He sank back down, he eyes focusing on some far distant object only he could see.  
A flurry of whispers erupted around them, making it seem as though as a swarm of bees had suddenly filled the room. Necks craned, hoping to catch sight of Loki, but he didn't pay them any attention. The guards snaked their arms around him again, but this time he didn't resist, he was too focused on Odin. His sneer had disappeared, replaced by a bitter confusion. What was Odin doing? What reason had Loki given him for this interference with Asgardian justice? The guards wheeled him around and he found himself face to face with Thor, Frigga. and the others. Frigga seemed close to tears, but he eyes were dry, yet there was still something about her features that forced Loki to look away quickly, lest he forget his resolve. He passed over Sif and the Warriors three, not wanting to see their self-righteous stares and postures, but Thor... he couldn't stop himself, his eyes rested on the one he had once called brother. Thor's expression was mutinous, but, like father like son, he seemed to be searching for a sign of remorse in Loki. The difference was that he was more forceful about it. Loki gave him a small, humorless chuckle before turning away, but not before he caught Thor tightening his grip on Mjolnir, Frigga's shudder and collapse, or the way Sif's eyes suddenly blazed with fury. Their eyes followed Loki all the way out, but he scarcely gave them a second thought.


	5. Chapter 5

"What, no, seriously?" I couldn't believe it. How, how, how had I known this was going to happen?

"You jinxed it, Sara." Said Abby, who was lounging in her seat, idly examining her fingers again, having already completely checked out of the conversation.

"I did not!" I turned back to Sarah, "Why did you make me jinx it?" She didn't answer, just returned my glare with that same, steady, absolutely undisclosing stare she'd been using throughout the entire the conversation.

Abby and I had gone looking for Zack and Chris just liked I'd wanted, and we'd found them. Chris was attempting to a read ginormous book that apparently had something to do with astrophysics, except that I was pretty sure it was actually in ancient Greek which was why it looked like it had personally met Socrates of several occasions. Zack, on the other hand was trying to see how many knives he could fit in an inch diameter red bulls eye. So far, it looked like he was up to about 20.

Ahh, I mused, the mighty _Eka' khan'tali_—Truth-bringers—feared and praised across all of time and eternity, bearers of glorious peace and lacerating justice. And now looked where our boredom had brought us too. Which was pretty much the textbook definition of textbook boredom?

"Chris!" I said, flinging myself across his lap, knocking the book from his fingers.

"Umm...hey Sara." he said, giving me a slightly mystified expression. Zack glanced up at us, another knife clutched firmly in his left hand, and I immediately launched into the same experience slash story slash theory that I'd just given to Abby.

Chris had looked intrigued by my pronouncement, perhaps even a tad bit hopeful. Zack responded pretty much the same way Abby did. Like, really, pretty much the same way—as in using so many of the same words it was freaky but also pretty cool since it gave further evidence to my theory that Zack and Abby were actually robots who had been produced in the same factory all terminator like—way.

"So, anyway, Abby and I were thinking we should do something, you know, in the meantime, since Sarah's probably not even going to tell us what's up until after lunch anyway."

"Really, and what exactly were you thinking of doing?" Zack said, he and Chris both looked at Abby, who looked at me. Then Chris and Zack both looked at me. I attempted a grin, but it was a very awkward. "Umm..." In truth I'd about exhausted all of my really great ideas within the first week, so now we were only left with the sort of cool ideas—except that I was coming up blank on those too.

They didn't realize how intimidating they were when they all bore down on me, even Chris, with his innocently inquisitive expression, looked formidable.

I chewed on my lip as I glanced around, looking for some form of inspiration. My eyes rested on Chris's book. It had a rather crude drawing on the front, perhaps it had been nice at one time, but now it was old and faded. I wasn't even sure what it was, though since it was on a star book it had to be a constellation of some sort. It looked to me like some sort of red monster, a deranged red monster, its form distorted like it been—taken from a kids coloring book. Yes, that was what it reminded me of. And there was a tear in the book, just below what I'd imagined to be the claw of the monster. I smiled, with the way it was positioned it almost looked like the monster was tearing his way out of the page and into the real world...

I blinked, caught off guard by the image that presented itself. Then, slowly, my lips erupted into a satisfied smirk.

Abby blinked, a big response for her. Zack groaned and Chris, Chris met my gaze. His guarded eyes staring at me curiously, and mildly, though I was sure I saw them gleam for a flash of a second.

When Sarah showed up, we were halfway through the project I had so creatively named, "project red monster." Chris and I were sprawled on the floor, coloring in a very old princess and dragon kids coloring book that I had found in the back of the nursery. We had a room for every occasion, like a nursery for when we had kids aboard. This happened, but not as often as I would've liked.

Anyway, Abby was busing running wires from our holographic projector to the animator. She was perched precariously on a few pieces of scrap metal that she had stacked on top of each other, a huge tangle of cords winding around her thin frame and a screwdriver clamped between her jaws. Zack was sitting at the table, everything about him entirely focused on the animator board as he shifted the intricate little nodes into a new formation, his fingers flying.

If everything went according to plan, we were going to be able to bring mine and Chris's pictures to life. Well, an animated holographic projection of life—but that was close enough.

"Chris, you're doing it wrong." I said, looking up from my own handwork. He paused, frowning.

"But I'm coloring in the lines?"

"Exactly."

He gave me sideways glance, eyebrows raised. "I don't follow."

Now I paused, letting out a huff of breath. "The point of this whole—thing—is to make possible the childhood dream of having your pictures come to life. Which means that we have to draw like toddlers, so that we get the full effect on seeing something that could not possibly exist in real life and totally looks like it came out of the brain of a two year but is still completely and undeniably fabulous, and real." Both Abby and Zack gave me an incredulous look, and I wanted to scream. Or at least huff and through my hands into the air. You would think these guys had never been kids, ever. I mean, I knew they were all kid prodigy geniuses with really messed up backgrounds and Abby had pretty much been raised in an underground lab, but still.

"Hence, don't color in the lines."

Chris started to say something, but stopped abruptly as a shadow fell across me.

"What," came the eerily quiet voice, "the hell are you doing to my equipment?"


End file.
